Methods and apparatuses for controlling distribution of location information

• US 7,570,958 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2004
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheynblat, Leonid, Krasner, Norman F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhattacharya; Sam
• Application Number:
  US10/961,986
• Publication Number:
  US 20050070305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,762 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.2, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 455/456.6, 455/411, 455/406, 342/450, 342/357.01, 342/357.06, 342/357.07, 342/357.09
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A mobile system, such as a wireless phone, communicates its location or other position information, such as pseudoranges, to a server system and optionally sends permission criteria defining which other mobile systems are allowed to access its location. In the case where the mobile system does not provide its location, the server determines the location using the other position information provided (e.g. pseudoranges for satellites in view of the mobile system). The server system sends the location to other mobile systems in accordance with the permission criteria, with or without a request from another mobile system for the location. If no permission criteria has been sent by the mobile system, the server system queries the mobile system for the permission criteria in response to a request for the location. If no permission criteria is sent by the mobile system, or if the permission criteria sent denies the request, the server system can, alternately, not reply to the request or reply with an error message. The permission criteria can include additional access limitations such as dates or times during which access is permitted or denied, and geographic areas in which access is permitted or denied.

Claims

1. A method for communicating a location of a first mobile system to a second mobile system, the method comprising:

receiving a request for the location of the first mobile system from the second mobile system;

obtaining, at least in part, the location of the first mobile system;

based on a unique identifier associated with the second mobile system, obtaining permission criteria specified by the first mobile system for the second mobile system, wherein the permission criteria includes at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint;

based, at least in part, on the at least one access constraint, determining if the second mobile system is allowed to access the location of the first mobile system; and

transmitting the location of the first mobile system to the second mobile system in response to the second mobile system being permitted to access the location of the first mobile system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the permission criteria is obtained from the first mobile system in response to the request from the second mobile system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the permission criteria is obtained from a stored list of permission criteria associated with a first user and wherein said first mobile system comprises a satellite positioning system receiver.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein in the permission criteria is selectively set by a user of the first mobile system and can be changed by the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the area constraint specifies an area within which locations for the first mobile system can be transmitted to the second mobile system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first mobile system comprises a position location system operatively enabled to determine position information for the first mobile system and further comprises a communication transmitter operatively enabled to transmit the position information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein obtaining the location of the first mobile system comprises deriving the location, at least in part, from the position information transmitted by the first mobile system.

8. A communications system for locating a mobile system, the communications system comprising:

a network;

a first mobile system connected to the network and operatively enabled to provide position information associated with the first mobile system and a permission criteria specified by the first mobile system to the network, the permission criteria pertaining to at least a second mobile system and including a unique identifier associated with the second mobile system and at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint;

a server system connected to the network and operatively enabled to receive the position information and the permission criteria and selectively provide a location of the first mobile system derived from the position information to the network based, at least in part, on the permission criteria; and

a second mobile system connected to the network and operatively enabled to receive the location of the first mobile system from the network.

9. The communications system of claim 8, wherein the server system is operatively enabled to store the permission criteria on a storage device.

10. The communications system of claim 8, wherein the second mobile system is operatively enabled to provide a request for the location of the first mobile system to the network.

11. The communications system of claim 10, wherein the server system is operatively enabled to receive the request from the network and to evaluate the permission criteria pertaining to the second mobile system.

12. The communications system of claim 10, wherein the server system is operatively enabled to provide an error message to the network in response to the permission criteria permitting the location of the first mobile system to be provided to the second mobile system, and wherein the second mobile system is operatively enabled to receive the error message from the network.

13. A mobile communications system comprising:

memory operatively enabled to store computer implementable instructions;

a communication transceiver operatively enabled to exchange signals with a network; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the communication transceiver and operatively enabled, at least in part by implementing the computer implementable instructions, to;

provide position information associated with the mobile communications system to the network through the communication transceiver,

provide a permission criteria pertaining to another mobile communications system to the network through the communication transceiver, the permission criteria including a unique identifier of said another mobile communications system and at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint, wherein the at least one access constraint defines when said another mobile communications system is allowed to access the location of the mobile communications system.

14. The mobile communications system of claim 13, wherein the processor is operatively enabled to receive a query for the permission criteria pertaining to said another mobile communications system from the network through the communication transceiver.

15. A server system comprising:

memory operatively enabled to store computer implementable instructions;

a communication transceiver operatively enabled to exchange signals with a network; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the communication transceiver and operatively enabled, at least in part by implementing the computer implementable instructions, to;

receive position information associated with a first mobile system and a permission criteria specified by the first mobile system for a second mobile system from the network through the communication transceiver, wherein, the permission criteria is associated with a unique identifier of the second mobile system and includes at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint, wherein the at least one associated access constraint defines when the second mobile systems is allowed to access the location of the first mobile system, and

in response to a request for the location of the first mobile system from the second mobile system as received from the network through the communication transceiver, determine the location of the first mobile system based, at least in part, on the position information, and selectively send the location of the first mobile system to the network through the communication transceiver in response to said permission criteria being satisfied.

16. The server system of claim 15, wherein the processor is operatively enabled, at least in part by implementing the computer implementable instructions, to store the permission criteria in the memory.

17. The server system of claim 15, wherein the processor is operatively enabled, at least in part by implementing the computer implementable instructions to send a request for the permission criteria to the network through the communication transceiver.

18. An article comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which if implemented by a server system operatively enable the server system to:

receive position information from a mobile communications system; and

send to a different mobile communications system, a location derived from the position information in accordance with a permission criteria specified by the mobile communications system for the different mobile communications system, the permission criteria including at least one unique identifier that identifies said different mobile communications system and at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint.

19. The article of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, if implemented by a server system, operatively enable the server system to:

receive the permission criteria from the mobile communications system.

20. The article of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, if implemented by a server system, operatively enable the server system to:

receive a request for the location from the different mobile communications system.

21. The article of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions, if implemented by a server system, operatively enable the server system to:

send a query for the permission criteria to the mobile communications system.

22. A data storage device comprising:

a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a permissions criteria data structure comprising;

an owner identifier field in which data representing an identifier for a first mobile communications system is stored; and

a requester entry in which data representing an identifier for a second mobile communications system and corresponding data determinative of whether permissions are granted to the second mobile communications system by the first mobile communications system are stored, wherein the corresponding data specifies at least one access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint.

23. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request for a location of a first mobile system from a second mobile system;

means for obtaining, at least in part, the location of the first mobile system;

means for obtaining permission criteria specified by the first mobile system for the second mobile system, wherein the permission criteria includes at least one associated access constraint comprising at least one of a request required constraint and/or an area constraint;

means for determining if the second mobile system is allowed to access the location of the first mobile system based, at least in part, on the at least one access constraint; and

means for transmitting the location of the first mobile system to the second mobile system in response to the second mobile system being permitted to access the location of the first mobile system.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for obtaining permission criteria obtains the permission criteria from the first mobile system in response to the request from the second mobile system.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for obtaining permission criteria obtains the permission criteria from a stored list of permission criteria associated with a first user and wherein said first mobile system comprises means for receiving signals from a satellite positioning system.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for obtaining permission criteria obtains the permission criteria as selectively set by a user of the first mobile system.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the area constraint specifies an area within which locations for the first mobile system can be transmitted to the second mobile system.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first mobile system comprises means for determining position information for the first mobile system and means for transmitting the position information.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the means for determining position information comprises means for deriving the location, at least in part, from the position information transmitted by the first mobile system.